188 THE NATURAL IIISTOET IIEYIEW. 



many pieces of black stone, some of wliicli, " being accidentally put 

 " in tbe fire, presented an appearance something like gold. Certain 

 " refiners of London expressed tbe opinion tliat tlie specimens 

 " submitted to tliem contained gold, and a second expedition was 

 " quickly set on foot." This s'econd expedition sailed in May, 1577. 

 Capt. Hall rests his opinion as to his discovery of remains of 

 it partly on the traditions preserved among the Esquimaux and 

 partly on the objects which he discovered. These consisted of 

 " coal, flint stone, fragments of tile, glass, and pottery ; an excava- 

 " tion, which I have called an abandoned mine, a trench made by 

 " the shore, on an inclined plane, such as is used in building a 

 " ship on the stocks ; the ruins of three stone houses, one of which 

 " was 12 feet in diameter, with palpable evidence of its having been 

 " erected on a foundation of stone, cemented together with lime 

 " and sand, and some chips of wood, which I found on digging 

 " at the base of the ship's trench. Upon this evidence, then, 

 " coupled with Esquimaux tradition, as given to me by several 

 " persons, apart from each other, and at different times, I founded 

 " my opinions respecting Erobisher's expedition, as I have already 

 " stated them." 



We confess that this interesting discovery does not appear to us 

 so well established as Capt. Hall seems to think. Nor do the illus- 

 trations shown in the plate, page 295, of " Erobisher relics," throw 

 much light upon the question. As far as we can judge from the 

 figure, they might just as well be the relics of any other expedition. 

 This plate, however, is an exception to the rest, which show that 

 Capt. Hall can use his pencil as well as his pen. 



The Author's preface is dated " June 30, 1861, on board the bark 

 " Monticello, bound for the Arctic regions." We trust that by this 

 time he has rejoined his friends in the North, and that he is rejoic- 

 ing in an abundance of seal's blubber, and walrus flesh. We need 

 not say that we wish him success in the main object of his journey ; 

 and if, alas ! we can feel little hope that in this he will be successful, 

 we trust, at least, that he himself will meet with no more than the 

 unavoidable hardships of Arctic life, that he may return safely to 

 his family and friends, and that, as his first return was darkened by 

 the news that his country was plunged in war, on his next he may 

 be rejoiced by finding that she is again at peace. 



